Cost of birth control on rise at URI

By: Bridgette Blight

Posted: 11/29/07

11/29/07 - The cost of contraceptives is on the rise at the University of Rhode Island because of a federal law that became effective on Jan. 1, 2008. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 eliminated the practice of drug manufacturers providing discounted medications to college and community health centers.

Chad Henderson, director of URI Health Services and president-elect of the American College Health Association, said college health centers were given warning about the new law going into effect. URI purchased large quantities of the discounted pills to delay the onset of the price increase.

Come Jan. 1, Henderson said Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, one of the most popular birth control pills at URI, will almost quadruple in price. Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo costs $10 for a one-month supply. Henderson estimates the discounted pills will run out by Jan 1. When students return from winter break, they will most likely have to pay $38 for the same medication.

While students taking Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo have yet to feel the cost increase, the effects have already impacted URI.

"Before, 90 percent of the contraceptives we offered were in the $10 to $15 range," Henderson said. "Now, 90 percent are in the $20 range."

The staff of the pharmacy at the Potter Building is warning students that prices of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo will increase drastically once discounted supplies run out. There is no generic equivalent for the medication. Students that cannot afford the higher cost will have to switch to a different prescription and possibly deal with side effects from switching birth control pills. Cyclessa is the only contraception that will cost $10 after URI's discounted supply of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo runs out.

With the price increases, Henderson said some students might be better off purchasing contraception through their parents' insurance.

"Drugstore prices had been higher," he said. "Chains like CVS and Rite-Aid negotiate their own prices and add a markup. Now it might be more economical [to get contraception through a drugstore]."

The ACHA, an organization that advocates for college and university health, has been pushing for new legislation that reinstates the nominal pricing policy to college health centers and community health centers. Nominal pricing is when drug manufacturers provide drugs at a discount of 90 percent or more. The discounts were mostly on contraception.

Before the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 was passed, pharmaceutical companies could provide nominal pricing of prescription drugs to colleges and community health centers. These companies were able to provide discounted medicine without providing rebates to states in which Medicaid reimbursed the price of the medication, according to a document by the ACHA.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee investigated the rebate program in response to concerns that it was being abused. This led to revised exemptions from rebates. The revised list did not include college health centers or approximately half of the community health centers in Rhode Island, Henderson said.

A bill that would provide nominal pricing for community health centers and college health centers is going through Congress. The House bill, sponsored by Rep. John Crowley, D-N.Y., was introduced on Nov. 1. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, sponsored a similar Senate bill, introduced on Nov. 13.

Three out of the four congressmen from Rhode Island have signed on as co-sponsors of the bills. Democratic Sen. Jack Reed has yet to co-sponsor the Senate bill.